Capability Failure and Group Disparities : Some Evidence from India for the 1980s

This paper advances a particular measure of deprivation - called the Capability Failure Ratio (CFR) - on the dimensions of longevity, knowledge and income, and suggests how an (inequality-) 'adjusted' version of the CFR may be derived. These measurement concerns are explored in the context of relevant State-wise data for the Indian Union. The paper thus makes an attempt to enrich the analysis of human predicament by sensitising 'measures of central tendency' to distributional concerns.     

An Assessment of a Drastically Changed Federal Workplace in the United States

Abstract

Written by four experienced government employees, this article discusses many alarming changes that have been forced on the Federal government workplace over the past 20 years. The article identifies actions by elected and appointed officials that have greatly changed and weakened a workplace that was a model for America. Several attributes of the Federal workplace of the past and of the present are compared and contrasted.     

Assessing the Democratic Debate: How the News Media Frame Elite Policy Discourse

This article examines the way in which the news media frame public policy issues and the extent to which other political players (e.g., interest groups, politicians) influence this issue framing process. Our analysis focuses on the issue of gun control, comparing the rhetoric generated by interest groups and public officials on the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons Ban with actual network news coverage of this legislation from 1988 to 1996. Results indicate that both sets of political players employed several interpretative issue frames and worked hard to put their preferred themes on the agenda. However, at times, the media intervened in the framing process, especially as the debate matured. Specifically, the news media (a) structured the overall tone of the gun control debate, (b) adopted a distribution of framing perspectives different from that of politicians and interest groups, and (c) packaged policy discourse more often than not in terms of the "culture of violence" theme. These findings point toward previously ignored media effects and attest to the potential role the media play in shaping public policy debates.     

Uncertain subjects: risks,liberalism and contract

Uncertainty has been largely overlooked in the governmentality literature dealing with risk, especially because of contemporary emphases on models of statistical or actuarial risk calculation. Yet it represents a distinctive way of governing through the future, whose place in the formation of rationalities of neo-liberalism, and of 'enterprising subjects', is vital. Indeed, in domains of enterprising activity, the governmental modality of uncertainty marginalizes or subordinates statistical and expert models of risk management. In part this is because of enterprise's 'inventive' orientation - which sits ill with risk's assumption of a future that reproduces the past. Not only is uncertainty central to techniques of neo-liberal government, it has a genealogy that is distinguishable from the genealogy of more rationally calculative modalities of liberal government - but also reaching back to the beginnings of liberalism. In the development of contract law, blueprints for government through uncertainty provide a foundational element in the constitution of liberal subjects, and for the 'reasonable' techniques of government through the future which are a hallmark of liberalism. It is concluded that the place of uncertainty is central to liberalism and thus unlikely to be marginalized by 'risk society' developments.     

试论合同法中的诚实信用原则--从规范的角度进行分析

诚实信用原则起源于罗马法,确立于1907年的<瑞士民法典>.作为合同法基本原则的诚实信用原则,在不同的国家有着不同的立法表达方式,我国现行<合同法>规定的体系完整的义务群,是诚实信用原则的很好体现.诚实信用原则与合同法规范在产生依据、表现方式、适用等方面有着诸多不同的特点在我国合同法中,诚实信用原则具有重要的功能,它是合同当事人的行为准则,是立法者保证合同法内在精神统一性的重要概念和技术手段,是授予、也是限制法官自由裁量权的依据.     

论行政程序中行政契约约定自愿强制执行之法律效果

在台湾,行政契约约定迳受强制执行,在适用要件上放宽规定,在执行程序上却谨守中立,规范之一贯性受到挤压。而在德国,一方面容许缔结水平关系之行政契约,不受任何限制;另一方面严格限制隶属关系行政契约之要件与内容,并规范其不经司法讼争迳受强制执行之可能性,以强化并贯彻行政处分之作用与功能,值得参考。     

政府特许经营合同法律性质新探

政府特许经营合同是政府与私人投资者间就市政公用行业或基础设施领域中某个项目的建设、经营、移交而签订的协议。它的法律性质在学界是一个争议颇多的问题,主要有行政合同与民事合同之争。由于政府特许经营合同兼具行政合同与民事合同的特征,不能将其归类为单纯的行政合同或民事合同。它体现的法律关系更符合经济法的调整对象,因此是经济法意义上的合同。     

按揭借款人提前还款行为性质及法律分析

按揭贷款的优点之一是借款人能长期按月分批地归还本息 ,从而减轻了债务负担。但是 ,由于客观情势是复杂多变的 ,必然有部分借款人希望能提前还清借款。根据《合同法》规定 ,此时银行不能以“违约”相胁 ,可借鉴香港按揭制度采用收取手续费或改善资金运营的效率等手段来化解危机和弥补损失     

我国法院在承诺函性质认定中存在的问题及完善对策

在司法实践中，我国法院在是否可以采用推定的方法来认定承诺函性质的问题上存在认识分歧。对于承诺函的性质，英美法系国家和大陆法系国家的法院分别采用“文字解释法”和“目的解释法”来进行认定。在司法实践中，应当允许法官从探求当事人真实意图的角度出发，结合与案件有关的证据来对承诺函的性质进行合理的推定。     

The rise and fall of communal liability in ancient law

In ancient societies, rules of communal responsibility permitted the imposition of retaliatory sanctions on a wrongdoer's clan. These rules followed the collective ownership structure of early communities. Over time, notions of personal responsibility emerged, terminating the transfer of responsibility from one member to the whole clan. This paper intends to provide an economic explanation for this transition.